Thursday

Shame on Gennady Golovkin; condolences to Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade, and good luck to HBO if it decides to go with either Jaime Munguia or Gary O’Sullivan against Triple G on May 5.

What was once being hailed as the Fight of This Year has been reduced to (pick one) a one-sided embarrassment, a polite sparring workout, a chase around the ring, or a very awkward waltz.

What it won’t be is a fight, let alone a title fight (we don’t know yet whether it will be for Golovkin’s three middleweight title belts (WBA, WBC, IBF).

If you’ve been trying to keep up with the Celtics’ injury list, or are still in a state of giddy shock at the Red Sox charging out of the gate, we’re talking here about the demise of the Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez rematch and what may take its place come May 5.

To refresh your memory, the much anticipated middleweight rematch went out the window when Alvarez tested positive twice for the banned substance clenbuterol and was suspended, at least temporarily, by the Nevada Athletic Commission, with a hearing scheduled for April 10 on the ultimate fate of Alvarez.

Alvarez has already pulled out of the Golovkin fight, while maintaining his positive drug test result was due to contaminated meat he ate while training in Mexico.

“I want to apologize to everyone,” said a demoralized Canelo. “This really hurts me. This is difficult to go through. I feel really frustrated ... I’ve always been a clean fighter and will continue to be a clean fighter. I have always tested voluntarily because I’m a clean fighter.”

Meanwhile, Golovkin’s promoter, Tom Loeffler, announced that Triple G will still fight May 5, with or without Alvarez. Hence the search for a deserving, available opponent.

Andrade, the still unbeaten (25-0, 16 KOs) former junior middleweight world champion from Providence, now fighting as a middleweight, was the first to toss his name into the Golovkin hat two weeks ago.

He made the case that he is the best American middleweight as well as being one of the top three middleweights in the world. And being a dedicated gym rat, Andrade is always in top shape and ready to fight.

And yes, he makes a good case. Maybe too good. Outside of a phone call to Andrade’s promoter asking about Andrade’s condition, there has been no mention of Andrade filling the May 5 vacancy coming out of the Golovkin camp.

Most of the talk has been about Munguia and more recently O’Sullivan taking Canelo’s place, despite the fact that their credentials as a world title challenger pale next to those of Andrade.

The 21-year-old Munguia has a record of 28-0, with 24 knockouts, but has never fought outside Mexico, nor has he fought any middleweight contenders. He is unranked in all four of the major boxing organizations. At 21, he’s still a baby in this business.

O’Sullivan, with a record of 27-2, with 19 KOs, is ranked by three of the major organizations, albeit not very high. He is ranked fifth by the WBO, ninth by the WBA and 11th by the WBC. Contrast those ratings with those of Andrade, who is No. 1 by the WBO, No. 3 by the WBA, No. 5 by the WBC, and No. 6 by the IBF. And that’s after just one fight (a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten prospect Atlantez Fox) as a middleweight.

Andrade, remember, got frozen out of the junior middleweight division because no one wanted to fight him. Now he’s having the same problem in the middleweight division.

He thought he had an opening when Alvarez had to bow out of the Golovkin rematch, especially with an opponent like Golovkin, who had the same problems as Andrade finding opponents before winning the middleweight belt. But Golovkin apparently has a short memory.

There was also talk of a Golovkin-Billy Joe Saunders unification bout May 5, but Saunders, the WBO champ, is going through with his already scheduled title defense against Martin Murray in London June 23.

But the Golovkin-Saunders match is still very much alive for the fall, providing Saunder gets by Murray and Golovkin gets by ... who?

It doesn’t look like Andrade at this point. Once again, he is being left out in the cold. And that’s a dirty rotten shame.

We’re not talking about cheating or breaking any rules here. We’re talking about pride, the desire to be the best of the best, to seek out the best of the best.

Golovkin, who’s getting near the end of his championship journey, seems to be more interested now in having an easy pay night than being tested by the likes of Andrade. And that’s a shame. It really is ... at both ends.

Bob Hanna covers boxing for The Standard-Times. Email him at sports@s-t.com

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